92. Tower of Trials 26th Floor (1)
One day, while he was training hard, Baek Jinwoo received an urgent summons from headquarters.
"What is it?"
Riding a Celestial Wyvern, he flew toward Jamsil Station in an instant, and with the staff guiding him, he was able to head straight into the director's office.
Click!
As soon as he opened the door and stepped inside,
"Hoo-hoo-hoo! Welcome!"
The director greeted him with a very delighted expression.
"Do you know how much I've wanted to see you? Hahaha!"
Smirk.
'Anyone seeing this would think we're really close.'
Baek Jinwoo smiled and bowed his head.
Then he muttered,
"I don't know about that, but I do remember you refusing when I asked you to buy me a summon before."
"Huh?"
At Baek Jinwoo's words, the director was startled and flinched in alarm. He had already heard the rumors.
'They said he holds grudges pretty badly, right? I need to keep my wits about me.'
The moment he got on the bad side of the nation's hero, the next election would be over.
"What are you saying such hurtful things for…! Hahaha!"
As the director forced a laugh, Baek Jinwoo tilted his head slightly.
"I don't know. I think I was the one who felt hurt…"
"Bwahahaha! The past is just the past. And didn't I help you out tremendously after that? Let's move on, let's move on!"
Watching the director keep joking around with a laugh, Baek Jinwoo clicked his tongue inwardly.
'Tsk, a born politician.'
It was a skill in itself, being able to act that humbly toward someone much younger than himself.
Well, Baek Jinwoo had nothing to lose from it.
As long as the man standing there wasn't hostile toward him, it was Win-Win for both sides.
Still, the nature of their relationship needed to be made clear.
Now, he was unmistakably the one in the superior position.
"So, why did you call me here?"
"This is your first World League, right?"
"…That's right."
There had been no such concept as a World League in 「Battle of Summoners」.
It was something that came into existence only after crossing over into reality!
The director grinned.
"Do you happen to know?"
"What?"
"That the World League is run far more unfairly than people think."
"…?"
What did he mean by that?
"Sit down here first. What would you like to drink? Iced Americano? Or hot coffee?"
"…I'm fine without a drink."
After declining and sitting down, the director began to explain.
"You know the countries people call summoning powerhouses. The UK, Japan, the US, Russia, Taiwan, places like that."
The nations that the Five Emperors belonged to.
"Those places actually form alliances before the league starts."
"Alliances?"
"Once the groups are decided and the team battles begin within each group, the allied countries agree not to interfere with one another."
"Oh."
Would you look at that.
So if they ran into each other in the same group, it would get bloody, so they colluded to at least secure a spot in the Round of 16 first?
Well, that was possible.
'I mean, this wasn't some fair sporting event like the World Cup or the Olympics.'
In truth, it was a game governed by a system, wasn't it?
Naturally, each country had no choice but to move in pursuit of its own national interests.
Even if other countries were dissatisfied, there was nothing they could do.
What, were they going to start a war?
Against the Five Emperors?
"It's frustrating for us, sure, but there's nothing we can do about it. But you see. Heh heh heh."
For some reason, the director looked extremely pleased.
"Take a look at this official document that came to us."
He held out a sheet of paper.
It was a diplomatic proposal sent to headquarters.
"What is this?"
"It's a kind of treaty. The UK, Japan, the US, Russia, Taiwan… and South Korea will not touch one another if they meet in the groups before the Round of 16. It's huge! Those ridiculously unfair alliances are saying they'll include us now! Kahahaha!"
"..."
Baek Jinwoo crossed his arms.
The Five Emperors… those bastards.
'They know I'm God Ji-nu.'
That was one hundred percent certain.
Otherwise, there was no way those exact five countries would have made such an offer to us.
Did Sugoi from Japan tell them?
No, contractually he shouldn't have been able to…
'Well.'
With how wildly I've been rampaging, it would be stranger if they didn't figure it out.
'Still, that's thoughtful of them.'
The corner of Baek Jinwoo's mouth curled up slightly.
'It must have been Rachel.'
If it was her, she would do something like this.
Among the Five Emperors, Baek Jinwoo understood Rachel's way of thinking the best.
It had been Rachel who lured him into the group chat, and thanks to her, while he had played the game alone, he had at least been able to communicate with them a little.
Rachel had probably been extremely cautious about approaching him.
In case she made a mistake.
Sending over a treaty like this now was probably a kind of gesture.
For now, it meant they had no intention of becoming enemies.
"So the reason you called me was to show me this treaty? To get my approval?"
"Your approval, of course, but those guys, honestly… they asked us to send it back with your thumbprint on it."
"My thumbprint?"
It meant they had no need for the approval of the director or the president.
What the Five Emperors wanted was only one thing: Baek Jinwoo's approval.
'Hmm.'
They must be feeling pressured too.
If they were matched against us in the preliminary group draw and it turned into all-out war for no reason, they might not even make it to the Round of 16.
"It's not a bad deal."
"My boy! It's far more than 'not bad'! This is huge!"
"It's not that huge. They're only doing it to save themselves."
"..."
The director was dumbfounded.
Those great powers had sent a treaty in order to save themselves?
Was that even a plausible situation?
"Still, it's nice of them. They know how to be the first to extend a hand. Fine, I'll stamp it."
"I-I don't know what you mean by that, but… go ahead and stamp it quickly."
The director suddenly felt anxious for no reason.
Judging by the way he talked, it felt like if things went even slightly wrong, he might just say, Fine! I'm not stamping it! and walk out.
If he just stamped that, their chances of reaching the Round of 16 would rise sharply.
As long as they were grouped with even one of those five nations, that country would sweep aside all the others in the team battle.
With just that one thumbprint, South Korea would be able to profit while reaping the benefits.
"H-haha! The ink pad is right here."
Baek Jinwoo firmly pressed his thumb into the ink pad.
Then he brought it close over the treaty.
Stop!
That was when his hand came to a halt.
"Hm? Why did you stop?"
"But, you know."
As if something had suddenly come to mind, Baek Jinwoo looked at the director.
"No matter how much I think about it, I still can't get over how you wouldn't throw me that summon back then. Looking at it now, I heard it was only worth about 1.5 billion won. Whew, if I hadn't met Yoo Jia back then… I probably wouldn't even have become a national representative now, right? You probably wouldn't be receiving a treaty like this either. Hmmmm."
"..."
The director's eyes trembled.
'This bastard.'
At this point, didn't he really hold an insane grudge?
"I-Is there something you want?"
"Nothing right now."
"Then why are you stopping in the middle of stamping it and saying things like that?!"
"Just later."
The corner of Baek Jinwoo's mouth rose slightly.
"You grant me one thing I want, unconditionally. No strings attached. Then I'll stamp it."
"One thing you want…?"
The director had no idea what to make of that.
If he left it vague by saying "one thing you want", couldn't the boy ask for something truly outrageous later?
'What do I do?'
Just as the mind of the man who had lived as a politician was burning furiously,
"Well, then I guess it can't be helped. I just won't stamp it—"
"I'll grant it!"
As Baek Jinwoo started to pull his hand away, the flustered director shouted.
'There's no helping it!'
For the director, he absolutely had to produce the result of reaching at least the Round of 16 in the World League during his term.
As the head of the Player Headquarters, what achievement could be more certain than that?
Since he had no idea of Baek Jinwoo's true ability, that stamp alone was, to him, the sure sign of making the Round of 16.
"Heh, really? You do know it has to be done through a system trade contract, right? We need to make everything official."
That damn bastard!
The director, swallowing his tears, had no choice but to hand Baek Jinwoo one "wish ticket".
Press!
And so, the thumbprint was stamped.
* * *
"Hoo."
Back home, Baek Jinwoo's thoughts were complicated.
'I was planning to keep it hidden at least until the World League.'
It seemed all of the Five Emperors had already figured out his identity.
Still, the fortunate part was this: Rather than trying to keep him in check, they were extending a hand.
But he could not let his guard down.
Even if that was how Rachel thought, he did not know about the other Five Emperors.
One of them might instead decide they needed to crush the bud before it bloomed, and target him now.
Game ties were game ties, and reality could be different.
'Just try it. I dare you.'
Of course, he was confident.
Whoever came at him, he was prepared to crush them no matter what it took.
Still, with just a little more time, he would become flawless...
Right now, things were just slightly ambiguous.
'First.'
Baek Jinwoo scrapped all of his plans up to that point.
'I'll just climb the Tower of Trials first.'
Originally, he had put it off because he did not want attention. But now, there was no need to worry about that anymore.
To begin with, people in Korea were already openly assuming he was God Ji-nu, and with the Five Emperors already having figured it out, why bother worrying about anyone's eyes now?
'Rachel said she made it to the 50th floor, right?'
Baek Jinwoo figured that with HunGyo, Explosive Dragon, and Lamba, he could do it too.
And if he also brought in Song Yeonhee's puppet, which he had used this time, that would work as well.
If he asked to borrow it for a bit, she would probably lend it.
That would make it even more certain.
'The problem is Explosive Dragon...'
It was still a long way before Explosive Dragon's 100 days would be up.
If she was separated from Hwang Jiwoo for more than an hour, the sudden quest would reset.
'First.'
For floors he could clear within an hour, he would bring Explosive Dragon. For floors he could not, he would leave Explosive Dragon behind.
Inevitably, while he was clearing the Tower of Trials, Hwang Jiwoo would have to wait beside the tower.
'Yeah.'
Let's try it first.
If it does not work, then he can change the plan then.
* * *
"What?"
Yoo Jia was startled.
The current month was November.
"You're saying you're going to climb the Tower of Trials with only one month left before the league? And all the way to the 50th floor?"
"Yes."
"...Is it because of Rachel? To beat her?"
"More than that..."
It would be more accurate to say that he no longer needed to hide his strength.
'And above all.'
Recently, Rund's Luxury Crafting level had risen to 2.
As a result, new runes had been unlocked.
[List of Luxury items that can be crafted.]
[Berserk (Rare), Omnipotent (Rare), Howling (Rare), Emperor (Rare), Trinity (Unique)]
[Extreme Poison (Rare), Ruin(Rare), Fire Dragon (Rare), Extreme Cold (Rare), Annihilation (Unique)]
'Now I can finally set up Gale Slayer's endgame rune too.'
Gale Slayer's endgame rune was the Unique-grade Annihilation.
Annihilation was similar to Trinity.
Just as crafting Trinity required 3 Omnipotent Runes, crafting Annihilation required 3 Ruin Runes.
And to make those Ruin Runes?
The best way was to gather materials from the Tower of Trials.
Not only the materials, but he also needed to obtain things like polishing agents.
'And there's the Fire Dragon rune too.'
Fire Dragon was the perfect rune for Explosive Dragon to use temporarily.
'If I get all the way there fully set up, wouldn't even Rachel be no match for me?'
"Isn't that pushing yourself too hard?"
Yoo Jia looked at him with worried eyes.
"For something like the World League, people would be thrilled even if you only made the Round of 16... And besides, you already stamped it."
He had already explained everything about the stamp to the guild members, including Yoo Jia.
"The World League?"
Baek Jinwoo shrugged.
"That kind of thing is not important to me."
Whether he won or not.
He did not even think about the possibility of losing.
What mattered to Baek Jinwoo was simply continuing to grow stronger. And not just stronger, but overwhelmingly so.
That had been true back in his God Ji-nu days as well.
Without caring about Rachel's progress as the rank 2 player, he had only looked forward and kept going.
"Prepare it. Up to the 50th floor... I should be able to clear it in exactly one week."
Two days up to the 30th floor.
Two days up to the 40th floor.
Three days up to the 50th floor.
That was a tight estimate.
"...The 50th floor in one week?"
"Yes."
Even as he gave an answer so absurd that anyone else hearing it would be stunned speechless, Baek Jinwoo's expression remained firm.
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